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Ultimate test for fibre fiddle

It may look like a 1729 Stradivarius but there is no fooling the world’s
most famous violinist. Yehudi Menuhin recently tested this prototype violin
made almost entirely of carbon fibre by researchers from the French government
research centre, the CNRS. To please the purists, the instrument is coated
with a thin veneer of wood. ‘The magic touch is not there, it is not alive
enough,’ was Menuhin’s verdict. ‘But you are going in the right direction,’
he added.

The aim of the CNRS research is to make high-quality instruments which
can be reproduced easily and accurately with a mould. A carbon fibre cello
takes just two weeks to make compared to 18 months for a comparable one
in wood. The other gain is price: a carbon fibre violin would cost about
£1400 compared to £2400 for an equivalent in wood.